The Dragons in Eureka 2 : Chasing Smoke
by Andysaurus
Summary: An alternative or addition to Tigrecat's story. My story takes into acount the scarcety of portals. There is also a link of sorts with a main line story where the DOD send soldiers to Storybrook where they get dragged in after Emma and Snow.
1. It's unnatural

The waitress Ruby having gone to serve the guy at the next table, Allison decided to comment "You know, its really odd. If it were not for the information that the DOD managed to find on the Internet, no one would know about Storybrook. This place is more cut of than anyone could possibly realise, so cut of that I find it suspicious".  
"Could it be some clandestine government project?" mused Carter. He was interested in watching the guy in the next booth. He was clean shaven with cropped blond hair which grew down in a distinctive peak. His forehead profile looked almost as if he had horns. Carter almost felt that he recognised him.  
"No" replied Allison, "No way, yet it does have suspicious similarities with closed government communities, and the people seem nervous".  
"My thoughts exactly" replied Carter. The conversation at the next booth was getting agitated.  
"That's not all that's suspicious" Fargo retorted, "I never got round to mentioning it because the satellite results took the labs time to analyse, and I've just got some additional info from the DOD, amongst others". Fargo paused "Item : the spectral analysis of the smoke indicated that it was a continuous emission spectrum, to which nothing natural fits. Item : there were weak emission lines, but for no natural elements, just every electron transition level in that visual range, and Item : the lines were shifted but not by the Zeeman effect". He paused.  
"So?" asked Henry.  
"The shifts were variable and in random directions, at least, they look random".  
"Impossible, spectral shifts due to magnetic fields are regular and not random" replied Henry.  
Fargo simply continued "Then the labs reported a Dark Matter burst during the event, and the DOD came clean that there had been a massive EMP burst. Yet nothing was damaged, so no way could it have been nuclear ... at least not as we know it. There were also reports of exotic particles, but the events were questionable and could have been due to The Artefact".  
Even Henry was silenced by the spectral contradictions, and Dark Matter generation - how! Even the Eureka scientists knew almost nothing about it, beyond being able to detect it by the gravitational wave method.

Then Carter jumped up and headed to the conveniences like a fox after a rabbit.


	2. Mug shots

Carter was on the trail of Ruby, and the papers she had been given by the mystery guy in the next booth. Ruby did not look happy when she found that he had followed her. On a board there were a number of papers. Three were posters and they attracted Carter's attention.

One poster had a photo which looked faded and fuzzy like an old black and white photo except that it was in colour "Missing, beloved mother Maleficent. Kidnapped by Regina. $50,000 reward for USEFUL information.

The next poster had the mug shot of a dark woman and was alarming. "Wanted for Murder, Selina, known associate of Pan, father of The Dark One. $50,00 for valid information, $200,000 for termination, proof such as head required".

The remaining poster had a man's mug shot "Information wanted on Greg Mendel, known associate of Selina, known associate of Pan, father of The Dark One. Believed to be targeting Regina, responsible for the murder of his father". This time there was no reward.

Carter grabbed all of the posters and went back to the others.


	3. Adults only

"So, something happened ?" asked Allison.  
"That guy in the next booth was causing a stir with the waitress. Then he gave her these posters. She wasn't happy about them and neither was Granny, but she still put them on the notices board. Do you think that something is happening?", he pointed towards the main desk where Granny and Ruby seemed agitated.  
"Yes" Allison replied, "it looks like people are getting worried".  
"No wonder, looking at these". Carter showed them the posters.  
Allison finally said "These can't be serious".  
"Well, we'll see". Carter took the posters to the next booth.

Trian Dracos had been monitoring the proceedings with some amusement, he really had put the cat among the pigeons, but he had yet to terrify the children and the horses. He also had a bone to pick with Carter.

Before Carter could begin any indignant rant Trian countered him "Sheriff Carter, your authority is in Eureka, neither you or the DOD has any authority here. Kindly put our posters back and go home. Then I can get a room at Granny's". Trian had reason to want to sleep in town rather than in their old home. And no way was he renting a room from The Dark One.

Carter was disinclined to obey but was wondering what to do now. Trian decided to dig the knife in "Storybrook is for grown ups, not children. You have absolutely no comprehension of the powers now awaked on this world". Trian waved his hand and Carter felt a change to his gun belt. A grey smoke now poured from Carter's gun belt and into Trian's hand, where it transformed into Carter's gun. Trian squeezed and the gun was crushed. Trian threw it onto Carter's table. Allison attempted to pick it up, and as she did so Trian waved again and the crushed mass restored itself back into Carter's gun.

Carter had to sit down. Henry commented "Neat trick, rather like a self assembling nano structure".

"Stop talking baby talk" sneered Trian, "You're out of your depth". Now he was having a good day. And Carter had still not twigged who's brother he was.


	4. Decisions

As soon as she could, Ruby headed round to see David and Henry.

David was preparing a very late meal, "Hungry ?"  
"No" replied Ruby, "and you won't be after you hear what I have to tell".  
"Not more trouble, Regina, more wraiths?"  
"Worse, do you want the good bad news or the real bad news"  
"Err, the least bad"  
"Outsiders. Four arrived this afternoon and took rooms at Granny's. I think they are government, investigating the magic cloud from what I could overhear. One is a Sheriff"  
"Hell ... and the real bad news?"  
"A man, creepy and he scares me. He arrived just as they came for dinner. He was pretty mad that there were no more rooms at Granny's. When I said he might hire a room from Gold, he said that no way was he renting from The Dark One. It gets worse"  
"Worse? And he knows who The Dark One is?"  
"Then he gave me some posters to put up, I wish I had kept them to show you. Sheriff Carter grabbed them and confronted him. The guy knew who he was, and sent him away with his tail between his legs. I don't know much about magic, but this guy is more than a Hedge Wizard at the very least"  
"What did he do?"  
"Oh, a sort of simple Hedge Wizard trick with the Sheriffs gun, but there was something about what he did, how he acts, he's powerful"  
"Ok, its not so bad. So he's from outside. But if he can use magic then he has no reason to upset us. Its the others we should worry about"  
"You haven't seen the posters. He's after Regina, and wants to kill someone"  
"What!"  
"There was a poster of someone called Maleficent. Her family is offering a reward for information. Regina kidnapped her"  
"I never heard of a Maleficent"  
"I have" Henry interjected, "She's an evil fairy in a Disney film. She cast a sleeping curse on Princess Aurora and turned into a dragon to fight Prince Philip"  
"Hell, I know of a Princess Aurora and a Prince Philip. And I had a run in with a witch who could turn into a dragon, he called her The Beast"  
"Who called her?" asked Henry impatiently.  
"Gold, he wanted me to get her to swallow The Potion of True Love, to protect it. I bet he's mixed up in this somewhere"  
"He might know where Maleficent is" Henry suggested.  
"And the guy didn't want to see Gold" Ruby commented.  
"Maybe I could talk to Mr Gold" said Henry.  
"No" insisted David, "its too risky. Let's talk to Regina"  
"Oh yes, risky. Anyway the guy is offering a reward for killing someone who works for Gold's father, if I remember correctly"  
"Gold's father, who the hell is that?"  
"Pan. Seems that the woman he's after killed someone. It's a revenge thing. The other poster had no reward and is really odd. Seems that he is connected with the woman and Pan, and his father was killed, actually its a bit vague about that, by Regina"  
"What has she got her self into" David sighed.  
"And us" replied Ruby.


	5. Lies, Dammed Lies and Evasions

Talking to Regina illicited the usual "I have absolutely no idea" routine.  
"She's hiding something" commented Ruby.  
"I think she's nervous, but what about?" replied David.  
"Let me talk to the guy" pleaded Henry, "You never know, maybe he could help us"  
"Ok, but be careful. Ruby, you and Granny stay close to Henry"


	6. Answers, of a sort

The opportunity for Henry to talk to Trian did not occur until the next evening since Trian had been keeping his head down, magically, most of the time. He only surfaced now in order to farsense the local gossip. Even worse, from Henry's point of view, the party from Eureka were sitting close by. That was no coincidence; although Carter wanted to avoid a run in, he was certain he knew Trian, and that Trian could help them. Allison had concurred, but also wanted caution. The town was hiding something, possibly dangerous, and Trian might be the safest way to find out. Fargo and Henry wanted to know how the trick with the gun had been done, all their theories required a rather large amount of high powered equipment.

"Who's Maleficent" asked Henry. Carter was instantly all ears.  
"Why do you want to know, kid?" Trian countered.  
"No one's heard of her" Henry replied, not that they had been making enquires.  
"Go ask the Fairy Queen" Trian replied evasively, not sure he wanted The Mother Superior to get a visit from Carter and co. The Blue Fairy had at least tried to be helpful.  
"Please. Mom says she knows nothing about Maleficent" said Henry in his most plaintive manner.  
"As if any would believe her", Trian was both shocked and puzzled, he sensed something odd. He put out his hands to Henry's head, it was worth a try. He tried to sense Henry's mind.  
"What are you doing?" demanded Henry, alarmed now.  
"You are the product of powerful magic, both light and dark. So who's your unlucky dad, kid?"  
"He's dead, I never knew him"  
"Oh, sorry" said Trian sympathetically, "What happened?"  
"He was a fire fighter, mom said he died in a fire"  
"Really!"  
"Yes ... look, I know what you're thinking but Regina's not my real mom, and she's changing"  
"Hum, well she's still lying, about our mom!" the startled Trian replied with some emphasis, "So, who's your real mom?"  
"Emma Swan" then Henry blurted out "But she and grandma are missing. Can you help, do you know anything about portals?"  
"What exactly happened" Trian asked cautiously, "Tell me everything"  
"There was a wraith. It was coming for Mom, Regina. The only way to get rid of it was to send it through Jefferson's hat. Mom and grandma got dragged through. Then the hat was stolen by King George and burned"  
"And what exactly was a wraith doing in Storybrook?"  
"Gold sent it, to kill mom. I don't know why. The only way to kill it was to drop it into the void, Mom said The Enchanted Forest no longer exists"  
"She got that wrong on all counts. Wraiths can be killed if one is of The Fey like an elf, or contained and someone or something used a warding spell which protected and divided the realm"  
"So Mom and Mary Margaret are ok?"  
"Well, it depends on what happened when they got there, doesn't it?"  
"Can you help get them back?"  
"No. Building a portal is not a simple business, we should know, like how does one find the destination. Now if you had the remains of the hat, the ash even, maybe Dad could do something, or The Dark One could"  
"Err, no body thought about that" Henry said sadly.

Trian turned towards Carter and Co, "Why don't you just give up and go home. This sort of applied psi technology is way above you. Remember, mad scientists like Nathan Stark can only ruin the Earth, your paraphysists will spread havoc to the stars"

Carter could remember that line, so did Allison. "Who they hell are you" they demanded.

"Trian Dracos" was the reply.


End file.
